Enamored By You
by bitternessbitesback
Summary: It is said that when you first meet your soulmate, both your chests glow red for a minute. Of course, Hermione has more important things to be worrying about than something as silly as her "other half".
1. Hermione

Hermione liked to think of herself as a very logical person, and as such she could not grasp the silly concept of soulmates. Apparently, long ago, soulmates where more common, but with so many people existing in the world today it was incredibly rare to find your so called other half. The bushy haired woman did not like the notion of being "half" a person and as such pushed the idea to the very back of her head. Her parents weren't soulmates, yet they got along just fine, and Hermione was inclined to believe that people just simply put too much pressure on the whole "one true love" thing.

Of course she did believe in love, she loved her parents after all, but she'd never actually been _in love_ with somebody before. Sure she's dated here and there over the years, but it never amounted to anything. So Hermione simply contented herself with the idea that maybe she wasn't built to love romantically, and happily cheered on her friends as they found love themselves. It was just as well that they did too, because if the brown-haired woman had to watch her two of her friends, Ginny and Harry, dance around each other for another year she might have very well pulled all her hair out in frustration. They were the only people she'd ever known to actually find their soulmate, even if they tended to avoid the subject for the better half of their relationship (though they had been dating other people at the time so the brunette supposed she could cut them some slack for that).

Hermione had known Harry for what seemed like her whole life, as they'd grown up in the same neighborhood and attended the same private school. It was at Hogwarts School for the Gifted that they truly became friends, along with another boy their age named Ron. It was a bit of a rocky start and Harry was definitely closer to the redheaded boy than her, but they made it work. For seven years the three of them practically stuck to each other like glue, they were each others found family. Though Hermione did suppose it was a bit funny that for how close the three of them are, she's only ever met Harry's family due to Ron living so far from them. As such Ginny is the only member of Ron's family she's ever met, but that was all going to change this weekend.

"What about this one?" The red haired woman wondered aloud as she twirled around in an overly ruffled dress.

"Well it is very nice, but I don't really think it's your style." Hermione replied honestly as she took in Ginny's appearance.

"Ugh!" She cried out in frustration, "This is taking forever, I might just elope and forget all about this dress nonsense!"

"Your mum wouldn't fancy that idea," Came the airy reply of Luna.

Luna Lovegood was Ginny's best friend and had known each other for about as long as Hermione had known Harry. The Lovegood's and the Weasley's apparently got on really well and were longtime family friends. Even the Potter's had known and befriended both families long before Hermione had heard or met any of them. Sometimes she felt left out, it seemed like the Granger family passed on their bad habits of sticking to studies rather than friends. Though she supposed she was being a little harsh in her assessment, as her parents had plenty of their own friends.

"I have one more to try on, and if it sucks then we're done for the day!" Ginny said resolutely with a slight pout and turned away to return to the fitting room.

"I have a good feeling about the next one." Luna told Hermione with a knowing smile on her face.

"Oh yeah?" Hermione didn't really know what to make of the spacey woman sometimes, but for all their differences, she really cherished having the blonde in her life.

"Mhm."

Before she could ask her friend to elaborate, Ginny came rushing out in front of them, "What do you think?"

"It's perfect." Luna confessed.

"You look stunning Gin, I think you've found it." Hermione said earnestly.

"I think so too, I think it's the one!" The redheaded woman seemed to be overflowing with excitement as she looked over her appearance in the mirror. It was a pretty lace off-the-shoulder number with feathers at an illusion neckline. The long dress clung to Ginny's curves in all the right places whilst still looking respectable for in front of her family, even with the low cut showing her back.

"Great!" Hermione chirped, "Can we go now?"

"I am getting a bit peckish myself," Luna chimed in.

"Alright I get it, I'll go tell the ladies up front and then we can be on our way."

The dress shopping seemed like ages ago now, though it had only been a little over five months since then. Thankfully Ginny didn't pick out anything horrendous for the bridesmaids (aka her and Luna) to wear, just a simple, sleeveless red satin asymmetrical dress. _Technically _it was considered burgundy by the stores standards, but really it was red. As Hermione tried on her dress to double check that it fit, she couldn't help but be nervous at the prospect of meeting so many new people soon. While both Harry and Ginny seemed to share a majority of friends that Hermione had interacted with in passing, the redhead had a rather large family. And as such, had to have a rather large ceremony because of it.

Unable to quell her nerves, she removed the dress and placed it neatly back on it's hanger, and decided to head out for some fresh air. At least she wouldn't be completely alone during the ceremony, after all, she had Ron. Though he did have a girlfriend now and perhaps she shouldn't stay by his side too long lest the other woman get the wrong idea? Breathing out a sigh, Hermione opted to head to the park with the hope it would ease her anxieties. She also knew Harry's parents, his godfather, and Luna. So there, that was four people she knew aside from the bride and the groom. Plus, she heard Neville would also be attending the wedding, and they'd always been friendly with each other at Hogwarts. Hermione closed her eyes and willed the rest of her troubles away, and though it was only for a second that was all it took for her to run right into somebody and be knocked right onto her bum.

"Oh I'm so sorry," She immediately apologized while trying to get a good look at the stunned man who also landed on the ground.

"It's alright," He replied in a dazed fashion and Hermione worried he hit his head, "I should've been watching where I was walking."

She thought she saw his gaze slip down to her chest and grew angry at the thought. How dare he! The anger didn't last long as the red light that seemed to be shining from his chest finally caught her attention and all the sudden she felt queasy. Too many thoughts were running through her head as she sent a panicked look down, and sure enough she was glowing red, just as she'd feared. Looking back up at the man, brown eyes met blue, and time seemed to still for just a moment.

"Me too," Hermione hastily replied as she forced herself to her feet, looking anywhere but at the man, "I must be on my way now, bye."

"Wait!" He called after her, but she was already running back to her flat, and he hadn't reacted in time to catch up to her.

There was one thing Hermione Granger knew, and that was that she was not ready for this. She still had the rest of university to get through, not to mention her life plan. She'd never planned for anyone else to come into the picture! She didn't even really believe she'd ever find her soulmate, what was she supposed to do now? The brunette was not prepared for any of this to happen, she was only 24! Harry and Ginny were already getting married, that's not what Hermione wanted! Without really thinking, the woman already dialed the redhead's number, and had the mobile pressed up to her ear.

"Hermione?" Ginny questioned, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah... yeah, no, of course, everything's fine!" Hermione shakily reassured.

The line was silent for a bit before her friend replied, "Really?"

"Yeah, I, uh, I just... wanted to know if there's any last minute wedding things you need?"

"No, everything's here and accounted for, are you sure you're alright Mione? It sounds like you're panicking, do you need me to put Harry on?"

"No!" Hermione cut in before she could really stop herself, "I mean, it's alright. I was running, well not running per say, more like a quick jog."

"You can tell me anything Mione, you don't have to worry when it comes to me, alright?" Just this once, it seemed like Ginny was actually the patient one.

"Alright," Hermione took a deep breath before continuing, "I met my soulmate."

"What?!" An excited shriek came from the device, "What did they look like? Where they attractive? What's their name?"

"He was.. nice looking? I suppose? I didn't really get that good a look. And I don't know, I sort of left before I could get it."

"Left? You left? Wait.. did you run away from your soulmate?!"

"No!... Okay yes, but I didn't know what else to do! I'm not ready to deal with this!"

"And after you gave Harry and I so much crap this past year! You're no better than us."

"I know." Hermione groaned, sliding the hand that was tugging at her hair down the side of her cheek in exasperation.

"Well, you did the right thing by calling me; cause I swear between you, Harry, and my brother you're all emotionally and socially inept."

"Hey!"

"You can't deny it after literally running from your soulmate Hermione Jean Granger! What if you never see him again?"

"Then I can continue with my original life plan as if nothing's happened!" She reasoned.

"Yeah right! You better hope he shows up in your life again, honestly. What am I gonna do with you?"

"I don't want a soulmate Gin..."

"I know Mione, but maybe it's for the best?" Ginny comforted, "Now you won't end up a crazy cat lady."

"Crookshanks is more than enough for me thank you."

"Hah, well as I was saying, this could be good for you. You could do with a little more unpredictability in your life."

"Maybe..."

"Are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah, a little."

"Do you want to come over and get some takeaway? Have a girls night?"

"Would Harry be okay with it?"

"Of course! He'll have me for every other night for the rest of our life, I think he can spare one night without for you."

"Thanks Gin, I'll head on over then."

"Want Luna to join us?"

"Of course, she's the best at making people feel better."

"That she is, see you soon." And with that, Ginny hung up.

That night the three woman had a grand time with each other. Within the first hour Hermione was able to forget why she was there, by the fifth hour she wasn't even afraid to meet the rest of the Weasley clan anymore, and by the next morning she felt more relaxed than she ever had before. When Harry and Ron joined her for lunch the next day Hermione decided to spill the news, causing both her longtime best friends to choke on their coffee in shock, and the two men shared a look that suggested they knew more than they were letting on. Harry, however, quickly recovered and was immediately concerned for her well being, something Hermione was very grateful for. Even though he was to be married soon he still had room in his heart for her.

"You know," Harry spoke in a seemingly indifferent tone, "I've never known you to run from something before. You usually face things head on."

"Yeah, that's not like you." Ron easily agreed, taking a large bite out of his sandwich.

Their words had stuck with her all the way into the weekend, as she met up with Luna and Ginny at the latter's family home to get ready. Unfortunately she couldn't make it to the rehearsal dinner the night before, otherwise perhaps she would've been more prepared for the circumstances that would happen later that day. Or perhaps if Mrs. Weasley hadn't sent all the men of the house away before they arrived, maybe that would've prepared her better? Though now here they were, and Hermione had somehow missed all the signs of him the whole day. Not noticing the pictures of him in the halls, not noticing him as she walked with Luna down the isle, not even noticing him as she turned to face Ginny, her eyes never leaving her friend's face. Hermione was typically more observant than that, though with all the excitement that came with the ceremony, it shouldn't be too surprising that she wasn't focused on anything other than Ginny and Harry. Just wanting their day to go smoothly.

So now here she was, entirely caught off guard by his presence. Ginny had introduced the brunette to all her brothers (aside from Ron, of course) and her parents, and Hermione had to fight the urge to run away as she was introduced to Fred. The brown eyed woman politely shook all their hands and only lingered with Fred for a second longer than the rest. Everybody quickly went off on their own ways, but he seemed intent to stay by her side, though neither had said anything to the other yet.

Fred Weasley seemed to be a bit shorter than Ron was, and had a stockier build as well. Still taller than her of course. Though he had freckles littering his face just like the rest of his family, and his blue eyes seemed to have more green in them than Ron's did. Hermione was intent on ignoring the man though as she made her way around the room, greeting everyone she knew and catching up briefly with Mr. and Mrs. Potter. He seemed to be doing the rounds like her, but she kept feeling his gaze on her, and it was a little unnerving to say the least. This man was supposed to be her soulmate, and yet she had no idea what to say to him, so she mindlessly filled up her plate and sat down at an empty table. It didn't take him long to join her with his own plate of food and he took the seat next to her. The tension between them was thick and Hermione felt like she was suffocating in the awkwardness of it all, Ginny really was right about her being socially inept.

"You look lovely." Fred told her, finally breaking the silence, picking at his food, and not really looking at her.

"Thank you," She replied, sneaking a glance in his direction before blushing and looking away once more when he caught her, "You look nice as well."

"I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon." He spoke honestly, causing Hermione to finally look up and meet his gaze. Their eyes met and a smile found it's way onto Fred's face.

"Nor I you," They simply looked at each other while she worked up enough nerve to apologize, Harry's words ringing in her ears, "I'm sorry for running away that time."

"It's all good, was quite the shock."

"Yeah."

The silence between them was shorter this time as Fred asked, "Would you like to dance?"

"Yes, I'd like that very much." And she placed her hand in his in spite of all her previous reservations.

And they danced the night away, neither noticing the knowing looks from several friends and family members. Hermione might not have ever been in love before, but if he was willing to work past the awkwardness of the situation, than she would too. Her original life plan had needed some revisions anyway, so really, it all worked out in the end. Perhaps the whole concept of soulmates wasn't a silly as she'd originally thought.


	2. Fred

**AN: I'll have you all know I was already thinking about adding Fred's side after the second day this was up, but it was really all thanks to a certain review from FatinaFate that got me off my ass and writing this out. So thanks for the motivation, I'm glad someone else wanted this too! Anyway, hope you enjoy! **

* * *

Fred liked to think of himself as a very impractical person, and as such he easily grasped the concept of soulmates others would find preposterous. Like all his other siblings before and after him, he was a hopeless romantic. Of course, he never quite let the hope of one day finding his soulmate dictate the way he lived his life. He knew the odds weren't in his favor, and this was probably the one thing he wouldn't bet on.

As he got older, Fred realized he wasn't going to sit around waiting for his one true love to show up, and as such started dating. There were a few promising women now and again, but they never seemed to like him as much as he liked them. Though he did not fall in love often, when he did it was with every fiber of his being. Unfortunately it tended to scare flighty women off, and as such he'd only been in a few serious relationships in his lifetime. Sometimes he even feared he'd end up alone, that he'd never find the love his parents had. They weren't soulmates, not really, but they were damn close. Of course Fred realizes that even if he never found love, he'd always have his family, and that was good enough for him. So you could probably imagine his surprise when Ginny confessed she'd found her soulmate at the bi-weekly family dinner.

"Oh! How lovely dear!" Their mom was quick to recoup, "What's his name? When's he coming over? Have you broke the news to Dean yet?"

"Mom!" Ginny cried indignantly before crossing her arms and looking away as she answered, "He's called Harry, probably never, and yes I have. He was shocked, but we both agreed not to let this get in the way of our relationship. Plus, Harry's in a relationship too."

"Oh," Molly replied sadly, "That's too bad."

"No it's not," His younger sister insisted, "I'm not just gonna drop Dean because I met the person who's my soulmate. Would you divorce Dad if your soulmate showed up tomorrow?"

"Of course not!" It was Molly's turn to be indignant.

"What did you say his last name was?" Ron tentatively questioned, looking paler than usual.

"I didn't." Ginny easily replied in a tone that signaled the end of the discussion. Of course Ron couldn't leave it at that, and gulped before continuing.

"Was it Potter?"

The sound of a fork dropping came before his sister's stumbled reply, "How, how did you know?"

"He's only been my best mate since I was 11, gee Gin, you think you'd listen when I talk sometime!"

"What an interesting development, wouldn't you agree Freddie?" George gave him a conspiratory look that Fred easily returned.

"Quite interesting indeed Georgie."

"Oh no!" Ginny interrupted, "You two stay out of this."

"I don't know if that's possible." Fred told her smartly.

"After all, this does concern our dear, baby sister." George continued.

"And we've never met this soulmate of yours either."

"How are we to know if he's honorable or not?"

"The only one's dishonorable here are you two!" Ginny complained, pouting as she played with her food.

For better or for worse, Ginny and Dean eventually broke up. Their differences were beginning to become too much even for them after a couple months since _the meeting_, and the red haired woman began hanging around a certain spectacled male more often. The break-up was pretty amicable thankfully, but Ginny had to wait a little longer for Harry to call it off with his current girlfriend. Apparently the woman hadn't been kind towards one of Harry and Ron's other friends, and the dark haired man decided that was the final straw. As far as Fred knew, Harry's break-up was not nearly as amicable as Ginny's. Just because the two were single though didn't mean the Weasley's were spared from the subsequent dancing around that happened for the next few months after.

It was decided though that Harry was, indeed, honorable and was quickly adopted into the family. Unfortunately both Fred and George lost the bet place on when the 'soulmates' would finally get together, they thought it wouldn't happen until the next year in January. Charlie thought it would be sooner and opted for late July, while both Bill and Ron guessed October, and Percy didn't deign to place a bet. In the end it was Bill and Ron who won, and the twins reluctantly handed over the winnings.

Before Fred knew it, three years had passed and now a wedding was upon him. He helped out where he could, which included mostly shopping for supplies. Unfortunately, since both George and him had a store to run, they couldn't help out as much as either of them would've liked. Thankfully Molly seemed to have pretty much everything covered, and one of Ginny's friends was apparently being really thorough with everything which helped a ton.

"I can't believe the youngest of us is getting married first." Fred expressed to George as they were closing the store on a late Friday evening.

"I know!" George shared the sentiment, "I was sure Bill would have just run off and eloped with Fleur by now."

"Hah, I think he wants to live a little longer."

Somehow he thinks he shouldn't be staring at a picture this intensely, but there's just something about it that he can't quite put his finger on. Harry had asked him over to help move his things and now here Fred was, stuck staring at a picture frame of three very different children, no more than 14 years old. On the right was his lanky, pale younger brother; on the left was Harry, his green eyes standing out against his tan skin; and there she was in the middle, holding the other two close, a girl with dark skin and brown frizzy hair. Her eyes held a knowledge he'd never seen up to now, and her smile was brilliant. Fred was certain he'd never met her before, he knew he would remember her if he did. This must've been Harry and Ron's other friend, as well as one of Ginny's bridesmaids.

"Oh wow, that was so long ago." Harry told Fred as he noticed what caught the taller man's attention, picking up the frame and looking at it, "Though I remember it like it was yesterday. Ron and I had just lost a football match because the other team cheated, knocking us over and stuff when the ref was either looking away or being blocked by someone else. So Hermione came up with this ingenious prank to get them back, and you should know that she's not normally one to prank people, but long story short, let's just say it took the other teams hair a while to grow back."

It was then that Fred knew he had to meet this Hermione as soon as possible, and had practically burned her name into his brain. Every time someone mentioned her, the redhead found himself discretely listening in. He didn't really understand it, but something was calling him to her, and he wanted to know more about her. He could briefly recall Ron complaining about how bossy she could be when they were younger, and Fred couldn't help but wonder if she still was. He didn't know what he would do if she was, but he figured he could live with it.

All his musings and questions came to a head one fateful afternoon, the week of the wedding, as he was taking a stroll through the park. George had claimed Fred was being too restless, and as such sent him away. That was when it happened, he was looking up at the sky as he quite literally ran into another person. Both of them landed on their backsides, and Fred felt his mouth go dry as he watched the woman he'd been wondering about for three weeks now shake her head.

"Oh I'm so sorry," The woman he knew as Hermione apologized quickly, gathering her bearings a bit faster than him, though she wasn't really looking at him.

"It's alright," He replied in a dazed fashion as he struggled to maintain eye-contact, "I should've been watching where I was walking."

It didn't work though as his eyes were drawn to the red light glowing from her chest, she caught him though but the anger seemed to die out of her own eyes as they flickered down to his own glowing chest. The nauseous look that quickly overtook her features sent a pit of dread into Fred's stomach. She looked back up at him, blue eyes met brown, and time seemed to still for just a moment.

"Me too," Hermione hastily replied as she forced herself to her feet, looking anywhere but at Fred, "I must be on my way now, bye."

"Wait!" He called after her as he too got to his feet, his hand reaching for where she'd been, but he hadn't reacted in time and she was already too far to chase after.

Fred groaned into his arms later that same day as he sat with George, Harry, Ron, and some of their other friends at Honeydukes. He was more than content to just wallow in his own misery, he finally met his soulmate, and just let her slip right through his fingers. No wonder he'd been so drawn in by her photograph all those weeks ago, that should've been the first indicator. He'd never had someone look so frightened of him before, and Fred could honestly say he didn't like it.

"I can't believe _two_," Ron exclaimed disbelievingly, "_TWO_, of my siblings soulmates are my very own best friends!"

"Right!" Lee eagerly replied, "I mean, what're the odds?"

"Apparently better than we both thought, eh Gred?" Goerge chimed in.

"Mmph." Came Fred's witty reply, head still in his arms before looking up at his friends, "You should've seen the way she looked at me! She already hates me and I've barely said two sentences to her."

"Please, like anybody could hate you." Angelina comforted, rubbing his back.

"I could!" Ron helpfully supplied.

"She doesn't hate you," Harry continued on ignoring Ron, "She just needs some time to adjust. Hermione never planned for something like this."

"This isn't something you just 'plan' for," Fred claimed sarcastically.

"Course not," The spectacled man agreed, before continuing in sync with Ron, "Unless you're Hermione Granger."

"She plans for everything, she'll come around." Ron finished, actually comforting Fred instead of laughing at him tonight.

"You think so?"

"Dude, out of all of us, who do you think knows her best?"

"Alright, alright, I'll stop my moping."

The rest of the night Fred spent laughing along with his friends and singing badly along to whatever pop song was playing. After getting reassurances from both Ron and Harry (not something Fred had ever thought he'd need before, trust me), the older Weasley felt confident enough to start his plans to woo one Miss Hermione Granger. Of course he couldn't set it into motion until Ginny's wedding, but he could afford to wait. But he had to keep pushing back his plans as the brunette didn't even notice him until the reception. Of course he had noticed her though, how could he not with that wonderful red number she was wearing. It was just the perfect color for her, especially considering it was one of his favorite colors. He watched as she watched his sister, and it was clear to him that she cared about Ginny as much as she did Harry.

So when he officially met her thanks to Ginny, who had a certain mischievous look in her eye, he opted to let Hermione make the first move. He didn't want to scare her away from coming on too strong, so he kept his distance, making the rounds just as she was. Though he couldn't help from glancing at her every few seconds even as he was talking to people he normally would've found interesting. Finally, his soulmate grabbed some food and sat down, so he did the same. They sat in an awkward and tense silence as Fred picked at his food. Sensing eyes on him, he turned to see George looking at him expectantly from across the dance floor, mouthing 'talk to her'.

So he did as he told her, "You look lovely."

"Thank you," She replied, glancing at him from underneath her eyelashes shyly before blushing and turning away, "You look nice as well."

"I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon." He spoke somewhat honestly, he knew he would see her here, but was still surprised nonetheless.

Finally she looked up at him and Fred couldn't fight the smile off his face if he tried, "Nor I you," She told him and they were silent for a moment, simply looking at each other before she continued, "I'm sorry for running away that time."

"It's all good, was quite the shock." He just couldn't take his eyes off of her, he wanted to memorize every detail about her and have it tattooed onto his brain.

"Yeah." She finally looked away as she replied, but he caught her attention again quickly.

"Would you like to dance?"

"Yes, I'd like that very much." And, much to his delight, she placed her hand gingerly in his and he led them both to the dance floor just as a slow song was starting to play.

Fred had never had so much fun dancing with someone else before, and thankfully the dancing seemed to put Hermione at ease as she started opening up to him, becoming less awkward and stilted in her replies. As they danced the night away, the older man couldn't help but silently thank Ginny for finally getting together with her own soulmate, just so he was able to meet his. He might not be the luckiest man in the world, but he felt close. Perhaps he wouldn't end up alone after all.


End file.
